As the NBA season kicks off on Oct. 19, the dysfunction is well underway with a scathing reproach from Marvin Bagley’s agent directed at the Kings.
Ben Simmons dominated headlines with his drama on the 76ers on the opening night of the 2021-22 NBA season. However, the Sacramento Kings, consistently regarded by fans (NBA Twitter in particular) as one of the league’s most dysfunctional franchises, must’ve felt left out.
The Kings, ahead of their first game of the season on Wednesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers, planned to not have former first-round pick, Marvin Bagley Jr., in their rotation to begin the year.
In the wake of that revelation, Bagley’s agent, Jeff Schwartz, had some feelings about that.
Marvin Bagley’s agent has a point in his scathing remarks towards the Kings
Schwartz went scorched earth in his marks, stating openly that the team clearly has “no plans” for him in the future, yet they passed on trade deals this summer based on their “value.”
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, Bagley is entering his fourth NBA season without his desired rookie extension, coincidentally joining DeAndre Ayton, the No. 1 pick in that class, in the search for that new deal.
Using that 2018 lottery pick, the Kings passed on Luka Doncic, Trae Young and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to take Bagley.
To Schwartz’s point, the Kings have argued they haven’t received the value they invested in Bagley with that top pick — but refusing to play him only worsens his value and his relationship with the team.
Put simply, things are looking quite ugly between Bagley and the Kings. If and how they’ll come to a resolution, whether that means a trade or otherwise, is very much up in the air right now.